29 Pre-match preparation

◎【Three-in-one】The strongest twelve players of the century go straight to the Tokyo Tournament◎

Xu Dong left after saying, "You five, come to my office tomorrow."

Ah Shui, the most timid one, was so frightened that he couldn't sleep well all night. The next day, he had panda eyes and a sad face.

"What should I do? Will Coach Xu tell Master Buddha?"

Zhu Qi and Maomao are more experienced.

They knew that Xu Dong was the only one who arrested them, which meant that the matter could be resolved in a small way.

If someone wanted to clean up the mess, it would be Fo Ye instead of Xu Dong who would come.

Before training begins.

Everyone watched as five people lined up in front of Coach Xu Dong with their heads lowered.

"Whose idea was it?" Xu Dong said with a cold face.

"Me." Zhu Qi.

"Me." The others said in unison.

Xu Dong narrowed his eyes.

Quite united.

"?" Zhu Qi. "I suggested it."

"I went there the first time, too." Song Linzhou lowered his head. "I'm sorry, Coach Xu."

"It was Baobao and I who discussed this in the beginning, so I also have a share in it." Maomao also said.

"Us too..." Qin Xiaoba and A Shui nodded together.

Maomao followed up with, "But we just went out to practice. We have to prepare for the direct tournament after the New Year, so we wanted to spend more time practicing. We didn't run around everywhere..."

Xu Dong glanced at them, and finally his gaze fell on Zhu Qi. His tone became stern: "Didn't I tell you not to do that?"

"So I had no choice but to sneak out." Zhu Qi said in a low voice with his head down.

“…” Maomao, Ashui.

Xu Dong was startled and about to get angry, but Zhu Qi calmly explained, "If you practice under someone's nose, how can you call it a killer move? Everyone in the national table tennis team is so competitive these days. Only by being more competitive than everyone else can you get one of the few spots available."

Xu Dong was so angry that he laughed: "Then you didn't do anything wrong?"

"have."

"What's wrong?"

"You shouldn't have sneaked out."

“…”Others.

The topic came back again, and what Zhu Qi meant now was that he knew he was wrong, but he would do it again next time.

That's what players with personality are like.

Xu Dong didn't know how to express her anger at the moment. Should she just slam the table or punish them by making them run laps outside? But she didn't want to make a big deal out of this matter to the point where the head coaches of the men's and women's teams would know about it.

It was just a few kids who ran away secretly, and they didn't do anything out of the ordinary. It was all for training after all.

If she got too angry, it would seem like she wasn't allowing them to make progress.

What should I do?

Xu Dong felt a little apprehensive. When she first became a coach, no one had told her she'd have to deal with such trivial matters. But her face remained tense, as if she was ready to explode at any moment.

Seeing that Xu Dong didn't say anything, Zhu Qi guessed that Xu Dong might want to take the matter lightly.

After all, this is her head coach, and he is usually nice to her. She was in the wrong first, so forget it, just give him a way out.

"I'm sorry, Coach Xu, I was wrong. I was the one who organized this trip. I am willing to take the main responsibility, pay the fine, and write a self-criticism." I just want to not suspend my competition.

"We're willing too," the others echoed.

Xu Dong walked down the stairs. "I'm not saying it's wrong for you to practice extra, but you shouldn't sneak out. You know what happened to the men's team last time they sneaked out. It's still cold outside. What if you get hurt and get sick? Will you be able to play in the direct tournament, Asian Championships, and Asian Cup next year? As players on the national team, your health is of paramount importance! Also, I'll have the locks on that tool room changed. You're not allowed to sneak out again, or you'll be punished twice as much! If that happens, I'll really suspend you from the game!"

Ah Shui was so touched: "Coach Xu, you won't punish us anymore?"

Xu Dong's face darkened. "Punishment is definitely necessary. Everyone will be forced to run 10,000 meters for a week! A small punishment but a big warning."

I run a 10,000-meter long-distance run once a week.

This is not a punishment at all for sports students and professional athletes.

Coach Xu is an angel! Ah Shui thought.

"Also, here's the key to the annex. Baobao, Maomao, one for each of you." Sister Xu Dong pulled out two keys from the side and handed them to them. "I had the logistics department bring in two old tables and put them in the annex. If the gym's crowded on Sundays, we'll practice there."

Zhu Qi's eyes lit up. "Does that mean we'll have a separate table for our own use?"

"Aren't you guys supposed to be practicing some enhanced topspin? You'll have to show it off to everyone at the qualifying tournament." Sister Xu Dong tensed for a moment, then sighed in mock anger. "If I don't give you the whole table, you'll still try to sneak out, and I'll have to catch you every day. So, you might as well practice at home. So, let's go for a run!"

"Yes!" Five people stood in a row and ran out the door one by one.

Xu Dong looked at their backs and began to feel strange.

The "loop ball" technique originated in Japan, and no one in the team knew what it was.

How did Zhu Qi know?

Could it be that He Qianlu told her?

Think about it.

Xu Dong walked into Ren Xinhua's office alone and told him everything that had happened.

Ren Xinhua's expression remained calm, but he asked doubtfully, "Did Baobao really say that?"

Xu Dong nodded. "Yes, the five of them ran out, seemingly trying to figure out the technique of the 'loop shot.' However, they didn't seem to understand the concept of the 'loop shot' and thought it was just an enhanced topspin shot."

"This kid..." Ren Xinhua took a deep breath, feeling somewhat delighted. "He's well-informed and knows how to think things through."

"Chairman Ren, the Japanese team seems very confident in their looping technique. Will it have a significant impact on us?"

"We're also trying to get information, but the Japanese team's core players aren't participating in many international matches these days. They only send a few players out for symbolic tournaments, seemingly to focus on the World Games in two years." Ren Xinhua sat in her office chair, tapping her fingers on the table. "I'll go watch Baobao's training tonight to see how she understands the loop."

"Okay." Xu Dong responded.

The annex is located behind the auditorium and is usually used to store miscellaneous items.

Previously, it was a reserve area for players from the provincial team to play table tennis in the league. The presence of surveillance also made the coaches feel more at ease.

Now that the Ping Tiao League is over, it has been locked up and no one is using it.

It's a bit of a waste to leave such a large piece of space unused.

When we went out for a run, it was the cat that first noticed that the melted snow, like diamond-like fragments, began to float in the sky.

At first there were only a few bits and pieces, but later on there were more and more.

It's snowing in Beijing.

The five of them ran and laughed in the white fluff that shone like sugar.

"I was so scared. I thought I would be scolded." Qin Xiaoba ran in the front, jumping around like a stone monkey.

Maomao followed behind and laughed: "From now on, we can come out openly. The annex has heating."

"Our coach Xu has the best temper and never scolds anyone~" Ah Shui praised while running.

Zhu Qi jokingly said, "Come on, I don't know who scared me so much that I couldn't sleep last night."

"Hey, don't expose my family~!"

One person was asked to run for punishment.

A group of people is called frolicking.

A little white began to accumulate on the cedars lined up on both sides of the playground, making them look pure and ethereal.

Five young men took a step forward in the white sky, running towards the unknown distance.

Many years later, Zhu Qi still finds it funny when he thinks of that day.

She rarely violated discipline in her previous life. She didn't know if it was because she had more companions around her after her rebirth that she had a belated rebellious period.

After spending a long time with a group of teenagers aged 17 or 18, I suddenly realized that I have never gone through adolescence, either in my past life or now.

After becoming sensible, you are forced to mature.

Three months since I came here.

Life seems to have a lot more things.

She couldn't put her finger on what it was, but it subtly changed her life.

She began to get used to having Xiao Shui around. When she looked up, she would see Mao Mao doing physical exercises, four or five team members chatting and laughing around her, and Qin Shang wolfing down his food bowl during meals...

She started to like the national team a little.

/

This year has been very busy.

It just happened to conflict with a foreign competition.

Those foreigners don't celebrate the Chinese New Year. As soon as Halloween is over, they start preparing for the World Friendship Table Tennis Tournament.

This took up the entire New Year's Day and February, and Zhu Qi also spent his 16th birthday on the plane.

Maomao and A Shui bought her a small cake. Since fire was prohibited on the plane, they used flashlights instead and sang a birthday song.

The women's table tennis team sent Maomao, Zhu Qi, A Shui and Ding Shushu to participate.

To put it bluntly, this kind of competition was called "exchange" in ancient times and "exhibition match" in modern times.

It is not done in an individual capacity, but is a random one-on-one duel according to a machine allocation model.

In the best-of-three system, all 32 participants take a turn, which is equivalent to 1 versus 32 people, and is somewhat similar to the national table tennis team's large round-robin competition.

Winning a game earns 3 points, losing a game deducts 2 points, and winning the entire game earns 5 points.

Finally, the champion, runner-up and third place will be determined according to the total points.

The same is true for doubles.

Zhu Qi and A Shui successfully won the women's doubles gold medal that they failed to win in the Table Tennis League this time, and won the first place with a score of 67 points.

Zhu Qi's singles performance was only two points behind Maomao, and he won the silver medal.

Because he had won the gold medal in the World Championship Cup, Zhu Qi's world ranking entered the top 20, and after the entire "exhibition match", he was promoted to the top 10.

Only by participating in world-class competitions can you get world points.

But unfortunately, I have to return to the national team soon to prepare for the direct-to-the-qualifiers in June.

The entire months of April and May were the preparation period, so there was no extra time to sign up.

This time we are participating in a friendly league abroad.

Many countries participated, including the neighboring United States, Japan, South Korea and Russia, as well as athletes from Athens, Monaco, Portugal and Luxembourg.

It’s different from the last time we participated in the World Cup.

This time when she went abroad to participate in the competition, Zhu Qi felt that some foreign media seemed to have already known her and would come over to say hello when they saw her. Zhu Qi didn't know any of them, but these foreigners were inexplicably enthusiastic towards her and even called her "Gun Sister."

Zhu Qi was wondering how this nickname came about.

Ah Shui was well-informed and said, "These foreigners said your nickname is Bao Bao, which sounds a bit like a bullet. Plus, you have a very proud and sisterly image, so they called you that. How handsome! Much better than me. They all call me Water Sister..."

"...Okay." Zhu Qi.

Anyway, no matter what, the women's table tennis team returned home with a lot of gains.

In Zhu Qi's opinion, in the past, the Chinese national table tennis team had never even won the top three in such an exhibition match. How could it not be said that it was caused by some kind of butterfly effect?

The national team has a heavy training workload. Since the five of them started using the national team's secondary gym for training on Sunday, some of them have also been secretly training in places where no one else can see.

There are only a few spots in the direct tournament.

Everyone wants a piece of it.

Training day after day, I almost forget which page the calendar has turned to.

During the direct-through tournament, the national team's latest first and second teams will also be promoted and relegated.

Qin Xiaoba repeatedly assured Zhu Qi that he would try his best to win the promotion and relegation, and if he failed to make the first team, he would shave his head.

Zhu Qi handed Qin Xiaoba's letter of guarantee to Song Linzhou and asked Song Linzhou to post it on the bulletin board on the first floor of the men's dormitory.

Song Linzhou teased: "If I had a sister like you who kept pushing me, I would have achieved the Grand Slam long ago."

Zhu Qi disagreed: "If Qin Shang could be as self-aware, hardworking and diligent as you, I wouldn't control him like this. He's like a spinning top, moving every time he's twitched, and I have to scold him."

After working hard for a month with his sister's team, Qin Xiaoba, who was like a spinning top, was distracted by other things again.

After he returned from a walk, he excitedly shouted in the training hall: "Did you know! CCTV reporters are coming next week to film a documentary about the participants in the direct-entry tournament!"

A few curious female team members nearby ran over and asked.

"Documentary? What documentary?"

"Oh my god, do I need to put on some powder? I got so much sun last year, I'm almost like Bao Gong!"

"Come on, we've all covered ourselves up now, but you're still so dark. Even with the powder on, your skin isn't the same color as your neck."

Ah Shui was annoyed by the sight of Qin Xiaoba, but the news was indeed new, so he followed and asked, "Isn't this a CCTV series? Are we going to be on TV?"

"That's it!" Qin Xiaoba rubbed his hands excitedly. "Just now, I went to the coaching office to hand in the promotion and relegation forms for Teams One and Two, and overheard a reporter from CCTV Sports Channel talking to our chairman about this. We're playing in the qualifying tournament next month, and the CCTV Sports Channel reporter said they'd be broadcasting the team's matches, because people all over the country are really interested in the Tokyo World Games roster and all that..."

"Oh my, this is so impressive!" Fat Tiger walked over from the men's table tennis training ground, just as excited as Qin Xiaoba. "Do any other national team have such facilities? They always think of us first when they come up with something new. That's why we're the national sport. Our national table tennis team has to be so impressive!"

The men's and women's table tennis players started chattering together.

"Then can we still be shirtless during training?"

"You're going shirtless in the middle of winter? You'll freeze to death, you son of a bitch."

"I worked so hard to build these abs, I want to show them off!"

"You call that abs? You're calling it a belly, it's too small..."

As the first-hand source of the news, Qin Xiaoba received widespread attention. After being surrounded and talked about for a long time, he slapped his head and said, "Oh, look at my brain. Sister! Sister——"

Zhu Qi and Maomao were practicing rallies in the corner, and neither of them was distracted by the news.

Maomao had experienced reporters interviewing him before, so he wasn't very curious.

In his previous life, Zhu Qi had contacted the media everywhere to film his club's players. He was used to seeing those cameras. Instead, he felt a little constrained because with reporters coming, the team would have more requirements on personal appearance and speaking habits, and he might not be able to let go when playing.

Qin Xiaoba ran over, leaning against the pool table, and looked at his sister with shining eyes: "Sister, they said they want to do an interview with you!"

"Me?" Zhu Qi raised his eyelids. "Why do you do it for me?"

"They say the 15-year-old, the youngest-ever World Cup champion, deserves a special interview, so they might need you to prepare some materials." The younger brother, even more excited than his older sister, showed off everywhere. "I heard they only interview two people at a time: one from the men's team and one from the women's team. My sister has only been with the national team for six months and has received this honor..."

Speaking of this.

Qin Xiaoba slapped her thigh and came over: "Sister, do you want to put on some makeup? They say it looks good on camera. I see those little girls can draw their eyebrows and lips. I'll buy you some lipstick and eyeshadow..."

"If you dare to buy it, I will strangle you to death."

Zhu Qi said the most vicious words in the calmest tone. Qin Xiaoba knew that his sister was a man of her words, and he shuddered.

Who puts that stuff on during training?

What a psycho!

I was sweating during training and the powder on my face was scraped off in streaks!

"Why? We don't need it when we play basketball, but for an interview, we still have to be a little more formal. No need to go overboard with makeup, just some simple embellishments like covering pores and curling eyelashes..." Ah Shui patted his chest. "You don't need to buy anything, I have them everywhere! They're all imported..."

"I don't want it." Zhu Qi refused again. "I'm not suitable. I'm not interested."

Maomao stood opposite, caught the ball thrown by Zhu Qi, and made a "rest" gesture. He looked at Ah Shui and smiled: "Don't worry about these things every day. You still have to prepare well for the direct competition."

Ah Shui shrank his head in disappointment.

Sometimes I feel that Maomao and Baobao are just like twins, their reactions to problems and their persistence in winning are exactly the same.

Normally it's fine. We can get along well, train, and discuss research on foreign athletes.

But the two of them will definitely face off in the direct tournament... Then...

Ah Shui shook his head.

Oh no, I can’t even think about it.

She would rather not be able to watch the game at that time.

Otherwise, it doesn’t matter whether Baobao or Maomao loses.

She will be sad!

Zhu Qi reached out and took the towel that Maomaodi handed him. He wiped the sweat off his forehead briefly before turning his head to ask, "Who's on the men's table tennis team?"

"It seems so..." Qin Xiaoba was interrupted by a voice before he could finish his words.

Chang Hongxia stood at the entrance of the training ground and chuckled at Zhu Qi: "Baobao, Chairman Ren wants you to come over."

Qin Xiaoba smiled as if to say "as expected" and whispered in Zhu Qi's ear, "It's Brother Xiaofeng!"

Gao Xiaofeng.

He was once He Qianlu’s biggest competitor and roommate in the national team.

Zhu Qi followed Chang Hongxia and thought.

Didn't they say he was taking a break to do rehabilitation?

Before the two of them reached the office door, Zhu Qi heard a man's voice inside.

"I heard our national team has a new 'Martial Quxing'. I'm so unlucky because I missed the World Championship due to surgery. Now the women's team has a cat who is a 'Wen Quxing'. With both the Wen and Wu Quxing together, we'll definitely have no problem competing in the Tokyo World Games! Oh, by the way, is that girl really that good at fighting? I heard she beat Jin Lili the moment she came in. I think she'll be participating in the qualifying tournament too. I'll have to watch her carefully..."

Chang Hongxia knocked on the door twice to indicate that someone was coming.

"Come in." Ren Xinhua's voice came from inside the house, and the man who had been chattering stopped talking.

As soon as Zhu Qi entered, he was stunned when he saw the man facing Ren Xinhua.

It was similar to what he saw on TV in his previous life, but Gao Xiaofeng standing in front of him at this moment was a little younger.

He has a crew cut close to his scalp, thick eyebrows, eyes that curve when he smiles, and a strong facial contour, which makes him look very masculine.

After all, he was a renowned leader of the men's table tennis team, and a contemporary of He Qianlu's, the "two heroes of table tennis." Despite a year off, he appeared to have not slacked off in his rehabilitation training. His skin was tight, and he looked like he was about 25 or 26 years old.

At the Berlin World Games, he defended his own half of the draw, battling a fierce seven-game battle with then-famous Japanese player Taichi Furukawa. He ultimately came back from 3-0 down to achieve a stunning comeback and ultimately became famous, meeting He Qianlu in the final.

After He Qianlu's accident, he single-handedly ensured the prosperity of the national table tennis team for four years. To the point that even after his retirement for twenty years, he was still a well-known figure.

It was also once the object of Zhu Qi's study when he was playing table tennis.

Everyone says that her personality is like that of He Qianlu when he was young, a brave warrior who fights tenaciously and whose every move is a killing blow.

But in fact, Zhu Qi prefers a wise general like Gao Xiaofeng who can destroy an enemy with ease.

He doesn't have He Qianlu's arrogance and madness, but he has his own way of being calm in the face of praise or criticism, and he likes to use his brain when playing basketball.

She had previously seen an interview with Gao Xiaofeng in which the reporter asked him why he chose to play table tennis.

Gao Xiaofeng said: "From the first day I held a racket, everyone around me said I was perfect for professional tennis. I have to have a role in this world, right? I was born to win championships for the Chinese national team. That's the meaning of my existence."

The reporter then asked him, "But at the Berlin World Games, you gambled your future career and reached the finals with your injured right hand, but lost to your teammate He Qianlu. Do you feel regretful about missing out on the World Games championship?"

"As long as the championship goes to the Chinese team, the success doesn't have to be mine," he said.

This idea also influenced Zhu Qi for a long time.

As a rabbit born under the red flag and raised in the spring breeze, I have been deeply influenced by the thoughts of the past five thousand years and adhere to the principle of "the emperor takes turns to be my emperor this year".

If you want to compete, you have to be the first. Otherwise, the second one won’t even bother you.

Zhu Qi found it difficult to understand the idea that "success does not have to be mine".

A long time ago, Zhu Qi always thought that this might be Gao Xiaofeng's self-consolation for winning the runner-up, but after Gao Xiaofeng retired and became the coach of the men's team in the national team, he realized that he really believed that national honor was more important than personal achievement.

Upon seeing Zhu Qi, Gao Xiaofeng walked over and said cheerfully, "Hello, Zhu Qi. My name is Gao Xiaofeng, and I'm the captain of the men's team. You can just call me Brother Feng like everyone else. I'm your women's team captain, Chang Hongxia... Oh, and your head coach was once our teammate."

Zhu Qi: "Hello."

There was some change in her heartbeat.

The person he had once admired on the screen appeared before him alive, and Zhu Qi felt that his voice was a little excited.

As they shook hands, Zhu Qi noticed two rows of surgical sutures on the side of his right wrist. The scars were a flesh-pink hue, distinct from the skin around them.

There was this episode in his memory from his previous life. Gao Xiaofeng's wrist was severely strained due to long-term playing of tennis, so he had to undergo surgery before he could hold the racket. However, after the surgery, there may be many complications and the recovery may not be very good, which led to poor performance in the Tokyo World Games.

It is estimated that Gao Xiaofeng returned to the team this time for next month's direct-to-the-qualifying tournament.

"A CCTV reporter will be doing a special interview tomorrow, and they've chosen you two." Ren Xinhua got straight to the point, handing Zhu Qi and Gao Xiaofeng two documents. "Here are some possible questions. Go back and prepare them. When the reporter asks questions tomorrow, be flexible. Try to be positive and avoid being too emotional. If you're asked about an outsourcing project you dislike, focus on praising it, okay?"

Ren Xinhua looked at Zhu Qi with a smile.

Zhu Qi nodded.

Then Ren Xinhua looked at Chang Hongxia and Gao Xiaofeng. "As captains of the men's and women's teams, you two will be responsible for cooperating with the coaches in comprehensive training for the next two weeks. For the next two weeks, reporters from China National Television will be randomly recording the training here. Various cameras and recording equipment will be placed in the gym. Tell everyone to train hard. Those who like to slack off should pay more attention. Especially for the men's team, pay attention to your personal attire and strictly control your language."

"Yes!" Chang Hongxia and Gao Xiaofeng.

/

the next day.

The people in the team found that except for the dormitory building, bathroom and locker room, there were several cameras set up in other places.

This resulted in their every word and action being recorded, and the original feeling of pride and novelty disappeared in an instant, leaving only a little bit.

Just... quite shy.

The women's table tennis team was fine, except that there were some cameras installed on the table to record their swings.

But the situation was more difficult for the men's table tennis team. Many people wanted to recite a few Chinese national quintessences, but immediately held back when they thought of the camera pointing at them.

"Oh my god... the sun is really nice today."

"Fuck, let's get some chicken...meat for dinner."

"What the hell, your uncle... Are you in good health?"

In order to maintain the image of the national table tennis team, everyone entered social phobia mode and tried to speak as little as possible.

But also because of the interviews with national television reporters, the variety of food in the cafeteria is much greater than before.

In fact, the original four canteens in the east, south, west and north already had a lot of variety, but now many more Western and Japanese dishes have been added.

The men's table tennis team ate one sushi piece the size of a baby's fist in one bite. Almost everyone could eat more than a dozen at a time and also order a large plate of rice noodles with meat.

The reporters were stunned.

no way.

Sports students exercise too much.

There were many reporters from national television media, probably more than two hundred people if you counted carefully.

Almost all the important people were mobilized, led by the station director himself, and carried out the filming handover with Ren Xinhua for half a month.

"People across the country are paying close attention to the roster for next year's Tokyo World Games, and the qualifying tournament is a major internal event that basically determines the personnel. Our superiors asked us to attach great importance to this live broadcast, so we set up a few more cameras. I'm sorry to trouble you." The director and Ren Xinhua shook hands and said eagerly.

Ren Xinhua smiled and said, "Of course not. It's an honor for us that the leaders pay attention to our competition."

"I heard that there are many young players in the national table tennis team who have achieved very good results in the past two years. I hope to see a new look for the national table tennis team."

"We will also give the people of the whole country a satisfactory answer." Ren Xinhua followed politely.

After she returned to the national team, everything went smoothly according to the training plan made previously, and many players who switched from straight-blade to horizontal-blade have begun to show some improvement.

But the Tokyo World Games are imminent.

There is still one year and two months left.

Ding Shushu and Jin Lili did not perform well in the World Cup, Chang Hongxia's physical fitness began to fail, and Maomao's shoulder injury has always been Ren Xinhua's biggest worry.

And the new young player... is too young.

I don’t know if I can bear such great pressure.

The director jokingly said, "Japan is said to have developed a 'genius girl' specifically targeting the Chinese team this year—her name is Arihara Kaori. At only 17 years old, she has already won the top spot in Japan and the women's singles title at the World Youth Championships in February. Last month, she also defeated Munich women's singles bronze medalist Hashi Noboru Mie in her home country and is aiming for next year's Tokyo Olympics. As the head coach of the Chinese table tennis team, have you ever learned anything about this opponent you've never faced?"

Ren Xinhua smiled and said, "I've also seen this young Japanese player play. Hara is the youngest key player on the Japanese team, and her skills are very mature in all aspects. Our new 'Wu Qu Xing' also played against Hashi Noboru Mihui in the World Championship Cup. After returning, he was full of praise for Hashi Noboru's playing style and considered her a senior player worth learning from."

This sentence is very cleverly said.

It not only praises your opponent but also elevates yourself.

Everyone knows that Zhu Qi won the "Golden Throne" of the World Cup last year, and it was Hashi Nobori Mihui who was defeated by her in the quarterfinals.

——Hashisho Mihui...Is it difficult to fight?

As for whether Zhu Qi had ever praised Qiao Sheng Meihui...it was just a greeting anyway, no one would care whether he really said it or not.

The geniuses in this world are as bright as the stars in the sky.

The East Road of the Temple of Heaven is a vast starry sky.

/

The exclusive interview with the women's and men's team members was conducted by a young male reporter.

His last name is also unique, Sen Qiaobei.

He looked to be in his early twenties, with a handsome face, wearing a smoky gray suit and a party member badge on his chest.

He must have just graduated or was still in the internship period, but his speech was very elegant and humble.

Because Zhu Qi was relatively young during the interview, the reporter did not ask particularly tricky topics and the questions asked were very simple.

Zhu Qi even felt that he used the tone of coaxing a child to ask her some questions, such as how confident she was about competing for the direct qualification spot of the "strongest twelve" as the youngest and absolute main force in the women's table tennis team, and how she looked forward to the future.

The only question that required some thought was, "There are many players on the city and provincial teams who admire you very much and see you as their future goal. But everyone is also curious, when you were younger, were there any players you particularly admired?"

Zhu Qi thought about it very seriously and said, "No, because I will surpass all of them."

At this time, Zhu Qi felt the benefits of being young.

If a 26-year-old player said this, he might be criticized by the newspapers for being too arrogant.

But at the age of 16, she has the youthful spirit of a newborn calf that is not afraid of a tiger and is full of youthful vigor.

Hi.

Who would bother with a little kid?

Later, this sentence was also bolded and enlarged, and placed on the front page headline, with a sentence: [The Long March of a Generation of Genius Girls]

After the interview, reporter Mori brought over a table tennis racket, which was exactly the same in shape as the "Suzaku" racket that Zhu Qi used in the competition.

Zhu Qi's racket was specially customized by He Qianlu from a large factory.

There are some rackets circulating on the market that are very similar to hers but are obviously imitations, and they are sold very cheaply.

The bat that reporter Ke Sen brought was almost identical to Zhu Qi's bat.

"My brother likes you very much. He saw you play in the table tennis league, but there were too many people at the time and he didn't feel comfortable looking for you. He heard that I was coming to interview you and wanted me to get an autograph. Is that convenient?"

"Okay, but your racket is pretty good." Zhu Qi praised casually and picked up the pen he handed over to write and draw on it.

Reporter Mori laughed and said, "My brother is a big fan of yours, so he asked me to contact Coach He of the Jianghuai Provincial Team and get the design. It looks very similar to yours, right?"

“It’s quite similar.” But the wood is different.

"Thank you. I wish you success in being elected as one of the 'Twelve Strongest People of the Century.'" Sen Qiaobei was very happy and reached out to shake hands with Zhu Qi.

After the interview, Zhu Qi left the studio carrying his golf bag.

In the corner, a young boy held the autographed racket his brother had asked for him, tightly in his arms, his eyes gleaming with longing and worship, his gaze following the girl until she disappeared behind the curtain.

In the first week of June, the clock tower in the administration center chimed exactly nine o'clock.

The week-long "Century's Strongest Twelve Direct to Tokyo Tournament①" is about to begin.

【Author’s words】

① I watched every single match of the real-life "Twelve Strongest" competition on Earth three times before I understood the selection process. The promotion process is so complex that it's hard to describe, and it won't be very user-friendly for readers who don't know much about it. I'll simplify it a bit later for easier viewing.

Normal direct-qualifying tournaments do not lead directly to the Olympics, but only to the World Table Tennis Championships or the World Cup.